Mortise-nail.



A. T. BURCH.

MOBTISE NAIL. 7

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP 8| 920 535 Patented May 4, 1909nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn c.

ALFRED T. BURCH, OF RIVERSIDE, ILLINOIS.

MORTISE-NAIL.

Application filed July 8, 1908.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 4, 1909.

Serial No. 442,542.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALFRED T. BURCH, a citizen of the United States,residing at Riverside, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Mortise-Nails, of whichthe following is a specification, reference be ing had to theaccompanying drawings.

My invention relates to fasteners for wood joints and has for its objectto provide a new and improved fastener which may be readily applied andwhich will act automatically to firmly secure the joined parts together.I accomplish this object as illustrated in the drawings and ashereinafter described.

What I regard as new is set forth in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a sectional view showing tongued andmortised mem bers having my improved fastener applied thereto, beforethe tongue is inserted in the mortise; Fig. 2 is a similar view, showingthe tongue seated in the mortise; Fig. 3 is a section on line of Fig. 2;Fig. 1 is an elevation of the tongucd member showing one member of thefastener applied thereto; Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the mortisemember of the fastener; and Fig. 6 is a similar view of the tonguemember of the fastener or nail.

Referring to the drawings,7 indicates a board, such as a chair seat,having a mortise S therein.

9 indicates a member, such as the leg of a chair, having a tongue 10adapted to fit in the mortise 8.

11 indicates the mortise member of the nail or fastener, which, as shownin Figs. 3 and .5, is in the form of a concavo-convex plate having endportions 1213 bent at right angles, or substantially so, and providedwith comparatively sharp edges 14 adapted to cut into the wood. The endportions 1213 of the mortise member 11 project at the convex side of theplate so that when the fastener is fitted in place in the manner shownin Figs. 1 and 2 the concave side conforms more or less to the innersurface of the mortise. The concave side of the mortise member 11 isprovided with a series of downwardly-projecting teeth 15 in the form ofratchet teeth to engage oppositely-disposed teeth carried by the tenonor tongue member of the fastener, as will be hereinafter described. Themember 11 is also provided with thickened portions or shoulders 16 nearits ends on the convex side, as shown in Fig. 5, thereby strengtheningit at those points.

17 indicates the tenon or tongue member of the fastener, which, ingeneral, is similar to the mortise member, being composed of a platehaving end portions 1819 bent substantially at right angles and providedwith cutting edges 20. The tenon member 17 is also concave-convex, butthe ends 1819 project at the concave side thereof instead of at theconvex side as in the-case of the mortise member; also the tenon member17 is provided with upwardly-projecting teeth 21 on its convex side,which are adapted to engage the teeth 15 of the mortise member. Thetenon member is provided also with shoulders 22 at its ends similar tothe shoulders 16.

The mortise and tenon members 11 and 17 are applied to the mortise andtenon, respectively, in the manner shown in Figs. 1 and 2, their bentend portions being forced into the wood so that the intermediateportions thereof lie closely in contact with the members to which theyare secured,-this being facilitated by the curvature of the members ofthe fastener, as above described. In applying the tongue to the mortiseit is turned so as to bring its fastener member into alinement with thefastener member in the mortise, and is then forced down into themorties, the teeth 21 passing over the teeth 15 as the tongue movesinward. VJhen the tongue and mortise are properly proportioned thisforces the intermediate portions of the fastener members into the woodto some extent, taking up the shrinkage of the wood and causing theelasticity of the wood to force the fastener members out again when theteeth properly lock, thereby holding them firmly in interlockingengagement. Owing to the shape of the fastener members the forcing ofthe tongue into the mortise does not bruise the wood.

Vlhen the parts are interlocked it will be seen that they cannot beseparated by a direct pull, but if desired they may be disengaged byrotating the tongue sufficiently to carry the teeth of its fastenermember out of engagement with those of the other fastener member. In anystructure, such as a chair, for example, where the legs are held againstrotation by the rounds, the parts cannot separate, but even in theabsence of any devices for preventing rotation of the parts there is yno danger of accidental disengagement because the spring of the woodwill be sufficient to normally hold the members of the fastener firmlyin engagement with each other. By providing the shoulders at the endportions of the fastener members the metal is strengthened at the bendsand also the teeth are caused to protrude somewhat beyond the face ofthe plate and thereby secure a better engagement with each other whenassembled.

So far as I am aware, no one has heretofore provided a two-part fastenercomprising members adapted to be secured respectively to the mortise andtenon and to interlock when the tenon is fitted into the mortise. Myinvention, therefore, is generic in character and the claims hereinaftermade are to be construed accordingly.

While my improved fastener is intended primarily for use in connectionwith wood joints, it may also be used for any other situation to whichit is adapted.

That which I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by LettersPatent, is,

1. A fastener, comprising mortise and tenon members having their endsbent at right angles to the face of the member and adapted to engage theparts to which they are secured, said mortise member havingintermediately-disposed downwardly-projecting teeth and said tenonmember having intermediately disposed upwardlyprojecting teeth adaptedto interlock with the teeth on the mortise member.

2. A fastener, comprising mortise and tenon members having their endsbent at right angles to the face of the member and adapted to engage theparts to which they are secured, said mortise member havingintermediately disposed downwardly projecting teeth and said tenonmember having intermediatelydisposed upwardly-projecting teeth adaptedto interlock with the teeth on the mortise member, said mortise andtenon members being concavo-convex in cross-section.

3. A fastener, comprising mortise and ten on members having their endsbent at right angles to the face of the member and adapted to engage theparts to which they are secured, said mortise member having intermediately disposed downwardlyprojecting teeth and said tenon memberhaving intermediately disposed upwardly projecting teeth adapted tointerlock with the teeth on the mortise member, said members havingshoulders near their bent end portions.

ALFRED T. BURCH. \Vitnesses CHARLES E. PICKARD, RAwsoN J. PioKARD.

